Canada has made good strides toward gender parity. Global research by the McKinsey Global Institute put the nation in the top 10 of 95 countries reviewed. But progress has stalled over the past 20 years. At the current pace, it could take between 30 and 180 years to close remaining gender gaps.

There are three large gender gaps in Canada today. The first is in leadership positions — women’s share of managerial positions is only 35 per cent, and share of parliamentary seats only 29 per cent. The second is in positions that drive innovation and growth — women hold only 23 per cent of jobs that rely on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and account for only 20 per cent of majority owners of small- and medium-size enterprises. The third is in the distribution of family responsibilities — women perform 64 per cent of unpaid care work in the home.

This not only has a cost to society, but misses a source of additional growth that could feed the economic recovery. McKinsey’s new research finds that advancing women’s equality in Canada has the potential to add $150 billion to GDP in 2026, a 0.6 per cent increase each year for the next decade — the equivalent of adding a new financial services sector to the economy. Every province stands to gain in the range of 0.4 per cent and 0.9 per cent of additional GDP each year.

Advancing women’s equality in Canada has the potential to add $150 billion to GDP in 2026

There is rising momentum in Canada for action to accelerate progress toward gender parity. The Prime Minister’s office signalled change by appointing Canada’s first gender-balanced cabinet and issuing a “gender-based” budget in 2017. As Canada develops its agenda, we think stakeholders should consider five priorities that cover both gender equality in work and society — one is not possible without the other. They are: removing barriers to women entering STEM fields; enabling more women to be entrepreneurs through, for instance, programs that unlock access to finance; reducing gender inequality in unpaid care work, including ensuring wider availability of accessible, high-quality child care; amplifying women’s voice in politics; and — perhaps the biggest and broadest challenge — shifting attitudes in society that underlie all aspects of gender inequality.

Companies need to wholeheartedly lead action to improve gender diversity in their own organizations. There is no educational reason for women to be so underrepresented in managerial posts — the majority of Canadians holding a post-secondary degree are female. Nor, according to a new McKinsey survey of 69 Canadian companies with a combined workforce of more than 500,000 employees, is there a lack of ambition; women are as likely to want promotion as men.

Yet at almost every stage, women’s likelihood of being promoted to the next level is smaller than men’s. Men advanced three times more often than women between the vice-president and director levels. The explanations are numerous, one of which lies in a lack of opportunity. Women largely occupy positions that provide few paths to leadership. And they lack senior sponsors — women are half as likely as men to have had a senior leader support their promotion. This needs to change.

McKinsey’s research on gender issues in companies suggests there is no easy path to parity. Rather, companies need to implement a comprehensive change program. Five particular types of initiatives drive progress in the firms that have most successfully tackled these issues:

Go beyond a vocal commitment to diversity by cascading a clear business case for change. More than half of companies consider gender diversity a Top 10 strategic priority, but only 14 per cent have clearly articulated a business case for change.

Create formal sponsorship programs to help promote women. Men are 50 per cent more likely to attribute their advancement to a senior leader than women are, yet 80 per cent of companies lack a formal sponsorship program — and none is tailored to women.

Make flexibility compatible with promotion. Most companies offer long-term leave or part-time programs, but 58 per cent of employees believe that taking advantage of them hurts their career progression.

Raise awareness of, and combat, unconscious bias to create a truly inclusive environment. Women make up only one-quarter of senior leaders, but 80 per cent of employees think their company is inclusive.

Across the board, companies need to focus acutely on the quality of programs, rather than their number. And they need to be persistent — change takes time. For companies, politicians and individuals, the time is right for a renewed push. For society, women matter. And Canada’s shaky economic recovery would be injected with new vigour if the untapped power of women were to be mobilized.

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